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SOLEYE INNOVATION


When we say that Soleye is here to unleash the solar photography revolution, we mean it.

Soleye wasn't founded by business people or academics. The founder and innovator behind it is László Francsics, a passionate and award-winning astrophotographer with decades of experience who simply wanted to work with better, more refined equipment. Our products come from our burning passion: these are instruments, tools, and accessories we have built because we knew we could create better equipment than what was available. The photos we manage to take with these products are proof of that.

This is only the beginning: the first results of our dynamic, ongoing development cycle. We currently offer a 200 mm - 350 mm solar telescope product line, mirrors with unique coatings, and purpose-built special accessories. (Lots more exciting stuff is on its way.)

We are glad to welcome you to our website, and thanks for being interested in us.

By the way, visiting Budapest? Hop into our office for a coffee and see what we are working on!

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DR. LÁSZLÓ FRANCSICS

ROLE

inventor, founder, deep thinker, award-winning astrophotographer

SKILLSET

architect, designer, astronomy expert, scientific publicist, photographer

BACKGROUND
László has been drawn to solar photography because of the opportunity to explore.

For him, this is not simply an area of astronomy. 

It's more like a wide, open space with plenty of opportunities for creative experimentation, research and growth. This fuels László's enthusiasm and passion from the day he started taking photos with his schoolmate's telescope and his father's old analogue camera.

As an accomplished architect, leading design projects, and coming up with unique solutions, he is used to looking at things from a different angle, analysing the deepest layers of a problem and coming up with a different method.

This is especially useful when creating new concepts, like innovative methods for solar photography. 

László has been a major organising element in the astrophotography community, organising events, setting up exhibitions, and running an NGO. This has been a joyful experience so far, as the scene is growing steadily.

But he never liked the fact that the best new solutions and technologies are developed by silent geniuses in the background, and the real recognition often goes to those who use their methods and are able to deliver the images to a wider audience.

The Soleye system is a key piece of the puzzle. With this scope, although solar photography remains a highly technical challenge, anyone can create amazing images who take the time to experiment and learn about its capabilities. 

This enables László to pursue his goal. Although he would love to be outside and shoot amazing solar images all the time, or create events for the community, he is now fully focused on building these telescopes that can potentially elevate solar photography to a whole new level of popularity.
SOLEYE portrait Laszlo Francsics

ZSÓFIA SZÁNTAY DLA

ROLE

project manager, creative collaborator, communicator

SKILLSET

architect, researcher, baller

BACKGROUND
Although she became an architect, Zsófia has many professional sides. She has a strong background in liberal arts, she was planning on exploring the depths of theoretical mathematics early on, and her talent for drawing got the attention of her teachers. You can often find some of her work exhibited in one of the galleries of Budapest.

Zsófia has been researching environmental psychology, studying how people perceive architecture, and creating her own research methods for measuring it.

She's been steadily publishing the results of her several researches while presenting at international conferences. Sometimes she is invited to give lectures to architect students.

She had been working as a freelance architect before founding Nautes, together with László, her life partner, and three others. 

Zsófia and László provide the 'dynamic duo' that propels the SolEye project forward: they are permanently engaged in a creative discussion. Laszló can freely bounce his ideas off her, and she takes care of streamlining and articulating his concepts.

She is the mother of their child, Liza, and an avid basketball player, hitting the court at least 3 times a week.
SOLEYE portrait Zsófia Szántay

SOMA HAJNAL

ROLE

3D modeler, business developer, brainstormer

SKILLSET

visual communication expert, 3D artist, architect, entrepreneur

BACKGROUND
Soma is the quiet creative developer and visual storyteller of Soleye. He worked at globally recognized architecture design studios in London from early in his career, but he always preferred small teams where the horizon is wider and he is freely capable of utilising his creativity and vision, taking responsibility for complete projects. 

This motivation brought him back to Budapest eventually, where he co-founded Nautes, a creative design hub mostly known for complex architectural solutions, such as underground urban train stops, museums and other interesting projects while staying fully relevant internationally on the high-end visualisation scene as well.

Soma enjoys getting ever-better at his profession, but he thrives when the opportunity comes to create something brand-new, such as helping the invention of his fellow Nautes founder, László, become a commercially available reality.

Soma likes to have the birds-eye view so much that he's got a licence for flying gliders.

With Soleye, Soma enjoys the adventure of growing a whole new business wing for Nautes together with his co-founders while creating beautiful renders that bring a previously unknown level of visual clarity and branding quality to the unique market of solar photography.
 
SOLEYE portrait Soma Hajnal